steffysdad

I just purchased a 2005 Dodge 2500 RAM Diesel and I wanted to see what kind of oil and oil filter that you guys use. Is it worth it to add fuel additives ? if so, what kind do you use and how often do you do it ? Also, what gauges, if any would you recommend for the truck ? brand ? did you install them yourself or would you have a dealer install them ? Thinking about purchasing the extended warranty, it is about $1600 to extend the warranty-- is it worth it ?? heard rumors about lift pumps going bad and they are costly to replace. Any help would be greatly appreciated !

Thanks
Steffysdad

Hal

Congratulations on the new truck! I use mobil one 5w40 because it's full synthetic and it's at wally world. Fleetguard stratapore filters from genosgarage.com. Boost and pyrometer gages are a good idea if you are going to do any type of chip/box/programmer to make sure you don't toast anything. Diprocal gages match the stock stuff pretty well, but I still like autometers. As far as the warranty goes, if you plan to "enhance" the performance of your truck, you may want to skip the warranty since you could end up voiding it anyway. Only thing I'm worried about warranty on mine for is the A/C that lost it's charge last winter.

Jeff in TD

Hey, welcome, and enjoy the new truck.

Many people will second the recommendation of Fleetguard filters.

There are many good choices for oil, but don't switch to synthetic until fully broken in. Myself, I just run Valvoline Premium Blue...

Personally, I don't think the extended warranties are a good deal, as long as you have enough cash on hand to deal with the unlikely event of a major failure. There have been a couple of threads about lift pumps, but they seem to go out more up in Canada. Don't know if it is the cold or something in the fuel, but if my LP failed, I'd want to put something better in anyway (and a warranty would only replace it with another stock one).

Gauge wise, I went with an Isspro, which is designed to match the factory dash, in an SRT-10 replacement A pillar. I'd like to also have boost, but wanted to keep the grab handle.

Hoss

Oil
You can't use synthetics until the engine is broken in per Cummins, so I would use Mobil Delvac 1300 Super 15W-40. It's good stuff. But, Delo 400, Rotella T, Valvoline Premium Blue...they're all good. Just get one of those and you're good to go.

If you ever decide to go to synthetics, there are lots of good ones out there but I use Mobil 1 Truck & SUV. It's designed for diesels and it's GOOD stuff.

Oil Filter
The best thing you can do is go to Geno's Garage and get yourself some Fleetguard Stratopore filters. They're about the best filters availabe for our trucks. While you're at it, buy one of Geno's "4-2-1" kits and you'll have all the filters you need for the first 30k miles on your truck.

Fuel Additives
I add a full bottle of Diesel Kleen (available at Walmart) to about every 5th tank of fuel. Cummins says it isn't necessary, but I think it helps to keep the injectors clean. It also seems to improve fuel mileage a little bit.

Gauges
Too many to pick from, but if I were installing gauges I would pick the Di-Pricol gauges. They're a perfect match for the factory gauges and they're high quality. Installing them kind of scares me...which is exactly why I haven't put any in. More specifically, drilling into the manifold to install the pyrometer probe scares me. I'm sure it's not THAT hard though.

Extended Warranty
Everyone has different opinions on these, but personally I think they're a waste of money. That's just my opinion though.